Suction nozzle



June 1940- A. A. FORSBER G 2,203,650

SUCTION NOZZLE Filed Jan. 24, 1938 ZSheets-Sheet 1 ficrL' T a 4 ATTORNEYJune 4, 1940. A. A. FORSIBERG SUCTION NOZZLE 7 Filed Jan. 24, 1938 2Shets-Sheet 2 15 when threads, dog hairs or the like, which adhere ofthe body which surround the opening I! are ll 25 area of the openingthus resultingin a concenof body It and the interior of member It. 25

'line 1-5 of Fig. 3; r of the nomle body. Furthermore. this distancePatented June 4, 1940 i UNITED STATES QPA-TEN'T OFFICE Axel AlbertForsberg, Stockholm, Sweden, as-

signor to Electrolux Corporation, Dover, Deb, a corporation of DelawareApplication January 24, 1938, serial No. 188,544 In Germany January 25,1937 4 Claims. (01. 15-155) My invention relates to vacuum cleaners andFig. 7 is a side view of a portion of the device more particularly to animproved suction cleanshown in the preceding figures; and ing nozzle foruse in connection therewith. Fig. 8 is an end view Fig. 7.

It is desirable, in order to effect different types Referring moreparticularly to Fig. 1, referll of cleaning, to have a suction nozzleprovided ence character ll designates a vacuum cleaner with at least twodifferent types of suction openunit within the casing of which islocated a fan ings, either of which may be employed at will. forproducing a suction and a dust bag for re- For instance, when removingordinary dirt from moving dirt from the air drawninto the cleaner.

- a rug it is advantageous to use an elongated suc- The suction inlet ofcleaner II is connected by 10 tion opening having as great an extent asposmeans of a flexible hose or the like II with a 10- sible in orderthat a maximum area may be rigid hollow handle member it, to theopposite cleaned in a'minimum of time. The length of end of which isconnected the suction nozzle it. such opening is of course limited bythe degree Nozzle 13 includes a hollow body ll formed of vacuum that isavailable. On the other hand, with an elongated suction opening IS. Thewalls strongly to the surface of the rug are encounadapted to slide overthe surface being cleaned. tered, it is necessary to produce anintensified A handle connection member I6 is pivotally flow of air inorder to remove such objects. Ac mounted on the body member in wellknown cording to the present invention such intensified manner so thatthe handle I2 may be pivoted in flow is obtained by closing off aportion of the order that the nozzle may be moved under low 20 nozzleopening. In order to accomplish this a furnitureor the like. The lowerend of member pivotal member is provided which may be swung I6 isformedwith a cylindrical surface I! in from a position outside of the nozzleopening to order to permit pivoting, and an opening I 8 a position inwhich it reduces the cross-sectional establishes communication betweenthe interior trated flow of air. Furthermore, this member is A pair ofbridge members l9 extend laterally so arranged that it may be shiftedfrom either across. the opening l5 of the body. As will be position tothe other by merely lifting the nozzle seenmore particularly from Figs.3 and 4, bridge from the floor and then replacing it on the floormembers I! divide the upper part of the interior 0 again. The nozzle maybe moved in this manner of the hollow member into a central and two bymeans of a rigid handle normally connected end chambers. Pivotallysecured to bridge memthereto, and hence it is not necessary for the hersI! by means of pins 20 is a swingabie memoperator to stoop down in orderto change the her 2i. The face 22 of member 2| is formed nozzle opening.a with the same, or substantially the same contour Further objects andadvantages of my invenas the face 23 of the rear portion of the nozzle35 tion will beapparent from the following descripbody which forms therear lip of the nozzle opention considered in connection with theaccoming. This rear lip is interrupted, as is indicated panying drawingswhich form part oi this speciat 24, in Fig. 3, and member 2| is adaptedto be fication and of whichswung into this space, and when in positionthere- Fig. 1 is a view showing avacuum cleaner unit in the member 2|forms a continuation of the 40 to which is connected a nozzle inaccordance with portions of the rear lip which are disposed on thepresent invention: either side of it. 'Ihe face 25 of member It is Fig.2 is a bottom view on a larger scale than preferably formed with aplurality of projections i that of Fig. 1, showing the improved nozzlewith 28. when swung to the position shown in Figs.

the movable member in one position; 3 and 5, the ends of the member 2|contact the 45 Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but with the bridgemembers is in a manner such as 'tosubmovable member in another position;stantially prevent flow of air therebetween. The Fig. 4 is across-sectional view taken along the dimension of member it from itsfree end to the line 4-! of Fig. 2; pivot-2| is such that a space 21 isleft between Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on the the free endof the member-and the forward lip. 50

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on the is greater thanthevertical distance from the surline t-i of Fig. 2. but-with the movablemember face on which thencule is used to the pivot II.

. in a position intermediate to the position shown Preferably, thethickness of member, includ- 5c in Figatand 5; lag the projections It,is such that, when the u forward lip of the nozzle is lifted slightlyoff the surface to be cleaned.

The operation of the above described device is as follows:

With the member 2| in the position shown in Figs. 2 and 4, this memberin effect forms a portion of the rear lip of the nozzle and is entirelyremoved from the suction opening l5. Under these conditions air mayenter the nozzle through the entire length of the suction opening andthe nozzle, when it is reciprocated back and forth over a surface, isable to clean a strip of the surface as wide as the opening I5 is long.However, if it is desired to have a more concentrated suction for thepurpose of removing threads or the like which adhere strongly to thesurface, the nozzle-body is lifted by means of the handle l2 far enoughso that the member 2|, due to its .weight, can swing in a clockwisedirection about the pivot 20. The inertia of member 2| carries it past avertical position, and if the nozzle is again placed on the floor atthis time it will force &

the member 2| to continue to pivot in a clockwise direction to theposition shown in Fig. 5. Under these conditions, the member 2| being incontact with the bridge member l9 completely blocks off the two ends ofthe suction opening I 5 and materially reduces the cross-sectional areaof the center portion of the opening, leaving only a narrow slot 21 forthe inflowing air. This results in a very concentrated suction at thisplace, which is able to remove objects which tenaciously adhere to thesurface. The space between the projections 26 in member 2| provides achannel for the air to enter the slot 21, through which channel the airtravels a high velocity, thus aiding in removing the threads or thelike. Inasmuch as the forward lip of the nozzle is held slightly abovethe surface, air is also able to enter the slot 21 through the space. Inorder to return the member 2| to its original position, it is onlynecessary to lift the nozzle from the surface, whereupon the weight ofthe nozzle causes it to pivot in a counterclockwise direction and whenthe nozzle is placed on the surface after the member 2| has passed avertical position, the member will be forced further in acounterclockwise direction to its position shown in Fig. 4.

In order that the suction effect will not retain member 2| in theposition shown in Figs. 3 and 5 even if the nozzle is lifted from thefloor, it may be desirable to provide spring means for initiatingmovement of the'member in a counterclockwise direction. Such springs aredesignated by reference characters 30 and comprise pieces of resilientwire having ends 3| engaging recesses formed in member 2 I, portions 32encircling pivots 20' and ends 33 bearing against bridge members Ill.The strength of springs 30 should preferably be so chosen that they willcounteract the effect of suction on the member 2|, thus causing themember to pivot in a counterclockwise direction in substantially thesame manner as it pivots in a clockwise direction.

While I have shown'one more or less specific embodiment of my inventionit is to be understood that this has been done for purposes ofillustration only and that the scope of my invention is not to belimited thereby, but only bythe appended claims when viewed in the lightof the prior art.

I claim:

member is in the position shown in Fig. 5, that is, in contact with thebridge members 19, the

1.. In a suction nozzle, a hollow body having lips adapted to contactthe surface being cleaned and defining a suction opening, and a memberpivotally connected to said body and having a contour substantially thesame as that of one of said lips, said member being s'wingable from aposition in which it forms a portion of said one of said lips and is incontact with said surface to a position reducing the cross-sectionalarea of said opening, the distance from the free end of said member tothe pivotal connection being substantially greater than the distancefrom said pivotal connection to the plane of said opening, whereby saidmember is prevented from pivoting when said opening is in contact withsaid surface.

2. In a suction nozzle, a hollow body having lips adapted to contact asurface being cleaned and defining a suction opening, one of said lipsbeing interrupted for a substantial distance, and

a member pivotally connected to said body and having a lengthsubstantially equal to that of said interruption, said member having acontour substantially the same as that of said interrupted lip and beingswingable from a position in which it occupies the space provided bysaid interruption to form a portion of saidinterrupted lip and is incontact with said surface to a position reducing the cross-sectionalarea of said opening, the distance from the free end of said member tothe pivoted connection being substantially greater than the distancefrom said pivoted connection to the plane of said opening, whereby saidmember is prevented from pivoting when said opening is applied to saidsurface.

3. In a suction nozzle, a hollow body formed with an elongated suctionopening, spaced bridge members extending transversely of said opening,and a member pivotally connected to said body and swingable from aposition outside said body to a position in contact with said bridgemembers, the distance from the free end of said memher to the pivotalconnection being substantially greater than the distance from saidpivotal connection to the plane of said opening, whereby said member isprevented from pivoting when said opening is in contact with a surfaceto be cleaned,

the pivoted member having a length at least as great as the distancebetween said bridge members and a width less than the width of saidopening, whereby the pivoted member when in the second-named positionserves to block flow past said bridge members from the end portions ofsaid opening and to reduce the cross-sectional area of the portion ofsaid opening disposed between said bridge members.

4. In a suction nozzle, a hollow body formed with an elongated suctionopening, spaced bridge members extending transversely of said opening,and an element having a length substantially equal to the distancebetween said bridge members, and a width less than the width of saidopening said element being pivotally connected to said body andswingable from a position outside said body to a position in contactwith said bridge members, the pivoted member when in the second-namedposition serving to reduce the area of the portion of said openingbetween said bridge member and to block off flow past said bridgemembers from the end positions of said opening, and the thickness ofsaid pivoted member being such as to slightly space said body from asurface being cleaned.

AXEL ALBERT FORSBERG.

